Nightmare or a Dream
by ForeverAGnome
Summary: Naida, a water bender, grew up in a village with her family. When firebenders attack her village, her life is changed forever. On her journey she finds a certain fire prince in trouble. Please R
1. Chapter 1

I stared at the night sky, trying to count the billions of stars. Unfortunately, I always lost count. I felt like I was being swallowed up into the darkness but there was a little bit of light, a little bit of hope, peeking through. It was such a beautiful sight that could be stared at for hours and hours without getting bored or losing the excitement it first had when you gazed at the small lights. It made me feel safe but small and helpless at the same time.

I slowly rose from my spot and walked back to my camp. I pulled out my sleeping bag and unrolled it. After putting out the fire I was left with the big silver coin lighting up the dark sky and it's many children helping it with the little light they shed on the earth.

I drifted into a soft sleep. I dreamt of a large ship floating among the waves. I watched a huge wave get ready to swallow the ship whole, showing no mercy. I watched the men try to escape but found no way to get away from their terrible fate.

I heard a scream and bolted upright. I was covered in cold sweat and my long, light brown hair was sticking to my neck. I looked around searching for the source of the scream but found nothing. The sun was rising and I had no time to lose. The unfortunate thing about my dreams is they almost always come true.

I packed up camp and put away the food I had left. It was enough to last me a couple of days but for other people it was probably enough to hold them for a couple of hours. I had always been very thin but must have lost weight during my journey. I was always on the tall side but not giant tall. I clear blue eyes that matched the color of the large, ruthless waves when I am angry or feels hate towards someone.

I began running towards the sea, sand flying up behind me. I looked for what I saw in my dream, a boat being swallowed by the sea. Then I saw a boat on a tranquil sea and decided not to worry but suddenly, like magic, a huge wave appeared behind the boat.

I started wading into the water and tried bending it so it would help me get there faster. Once I got close enough to the boat I made the water fling me up so I landed on the doomed ship.

I focused on the wave and tuned the scared yells of the many men out. I tried calming down the wave, which seemed to work at first but then it suddenly got bigger when a young man yelled at me. "Who are you and what are you doing on my ship!" he yelled at me as I tried to regain focus. "Answer me when I speak to you!" I glared at him and went back to calming the wave.

I finally got the wave to calm down but felt very tired so I fell to my knees. The last thing I saw before blacking out was the boy running over to me.

I woke up on a bed in a dark room. There was no window only a few candles for light. I heard footsteps come towards me. "Are you awake?" a soft voice asked. I looked for the owner and saw the boy standing at my side.

"Yeah." I managed to squeeze out. I tried to sit up but fell back down. He smiled at me and helped me up. I smiled back and whispered, "thank you."

"What's your name?" he asked in a soft voice. He sat down in a chair next to me and placed a pillow behind me to help me stay up. I was still very tired after calming that wave.

"It's Naida. What's yours?" I asked him pushing a stray hair out of my eyes.

"Zuko." he said flatly. "That was some pretty strong bending you did out there. Thank you for saving my ship by the way." he said sincerely. "How did you know we were in danger."

"You want the truth?" he nodded and I continued. "Well I dreamed that there was a ship about to be swallowed up by a huge wave so I went to the beach and checked for a ship. My dreams almost always come true." I finished. He paid close attention and seemed to be lost in thought.

"I'm glad you had that dream or I wouldn't be here now." he said. I looked around the room. I saw fire nation flags and other fire nation type things.

"Where is here?" I asked him after looking around the room. "How long have I been out? Why aren't there any windows in this room?"

"Hold you're flying bison!" he said laughing. "One at a time! Well, you're in my room on my ship, you have been out for a couple of hours, and there aren't any windows in the room because...well...honestly I don't know. I didn't build the ship so it wasn't my idea."

"Ok then. One last question." I said smiling. He looked at me and I noticed, for the first time, he had a big scar on his face and that he seemed to be missing an eyebrow.

"What's that?" he asked. He noticed her looking at his scar and looked away. "If it has anything to do with my face then I'm not answering." he said his voice getting rough.

"No that's not it! I was wondering when dinner is! I'm starved!" I said and laughed. ((A/N: You thought I was gonna have her ask about his scar! Haha! Food comes first!))

He laughed along with her and said, "Oh well actually we're having dinner in a few minutes! Care to join me?" he asked.

When I attempted to get up he chuckled. He offered one of his warm hands and helped me up. I held onto his hand tightly so I didn't lose my balance. He looked down and me and smiled. I returned the warm smile and we walked to dinner together.

**A/N: This is my first Avatar fic so don't be too harsh. I think Zuko might have been a bit too nice... oh well. Please R&R! Thanks for reading! I'll only update if you review! (or my friend bugs me to update)**


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Hi guys!! So sorry for not updating but my computer broke and I finally got a new one (YAY!!) Alrighty then, I would like to say thank you to TeenAnimeOtaku and my other reader people who waited patiently! (or didn't wait but are still gonna read it. shh. don't tell me!) Thank you guys so much!! Now, on with the chapter!! **

After dinner Zuko showed me where everything was. Then I took a quick bath and prepared to go to bed. It took me a while to fall asleep even though I was exhausted. I eventually drifted to dreamland and was having a pleasant dream until it was interrupted. 'Again?' I thought. 'That's twice in one week!' I waited patiently to see what would happen and I heard bangs. They weren't coming from my dream though. I woke up suddenly that I fell out of bed onto the floor. "Owwwww!" I said as I was rushing to get up and out the door, I heard men yelling. I didn't hear much that I didn't already know. 'We're under attack bla bla bla.' Or 'LOOK OUT! It's coming right at you!' Unfortunately, for me the man that yelled that was yelling it to me. I quickly jumped to the side and prayed I wouldn't get hit. The black ball whizzed passed me and another one came and scrapped my arm.

"Zuko!" I yelled. "What's going on?!"

"Naida! We're under attack! A nearby Fire Nation ship is attacking us." He yelled and ducked before another black ball hit him. "Maybe they're not after me" he thought out loud," maybe, they're after YOU!" he yelled.

"How do you know they're not after you?!" I yelled back at him beginning to get frustrated.

"Fine! Whatever! It doesn't matter now!" he yelled frustrated

'I win' I thought happily to myself.

"We have to get rid of the ship! Are you going to help me or not?" He asked and started bending.

I considered it for a second and when a black ball nicked my shoulder I was ready to fight. "Stupid fire nation" I mumbled under my breath and concentrated on the water. I created a wave and sent it crashing towards the ship. Fire benders from the other ship started climbing aboard and I threw water whips and other attacks at them until the attack finally stopped and we had one. I was breathing heavily afterwards.

"Are you ok?" a voice asked. When I looked up I saw it was Iroh and was a little disappointed.

"I'm ok. My arm hurts a little. How about you? Did the ship get too damaged?" I asked feeling a little guilty. 'Maybe Zuko is right, maybe they were after me…' I thought.

"Oh, don't worry, I'm fine and the ship is ok. Nothing that can't be fixed. Oh, my." He said as he looked at my arm and shoulder. "We should take you to the infirmary to get that looked at and wrapped up. Follow me."

"Where's Zuko?" I asked in a quieter voice.

"He's already there. He got scraped up a bit." He answered.

"Oh." I said and we continued walking in silence.

"Miss Naida got scratched up a bit would you mind taking a look at her arm?" Iroh asked when we got to the infirmary.

"Ah, lets take a loo-oh, my. I think it may be broken. We're going to have to get someone to check it out." The nurse said as she pulled me to an empty bed next to my good ol' buddy, Zuko.

"So what are you in for?" I asked in a deep voice and giggled.

"This isn't a laughing matter. Did you bring the ship? Are you a spy or something? I bet you're really from the Fire Nation and you're trying to capture me or get rid of me so you can get the Avatar." He said in a demanding voice.

"No I did not bring the ship, I am not a spy for anybody, and I'm not after you or the Avatar. I don't like the Fire Nation and I'm a loner." I answered as calmly as I could.

"What'd you do leave your family because _they were mean to you _or are you some rich girl who didn't like it or felt you had a bad life?" he asked in a snobby voice.

"That's not something I want to talk about." I said quietly as a tear escaped my eye and ran down my cheek. I quickly wiped it away and stayed quiet until someone came to see how we were doing.

"Well, Prince Zuko, it seams like you have some nasty scratches. We're going to have to clean them up and wrap them. As for you," the healer said as he turned his attention to me, "You have a broken arm. Unfortunately, we don't have any water-bender healers on our ship so it will take longer for it to recover. It isn't broken too badly, but we'll have to put it in a splint around your arm."

I nodded and two nurses came over to help us. One wrapped Zuko while the other put the soft (non contsticting) splint on my arm. "This way it has room to swell up and start to heal." She said as she finished putting it on. "You two are ok to go back to your rooms now. Naida, I want you to rest and don't do too many physical things with your arm. Prince Zuko, I think you shouldn't do any intense training for a week or two. We'll have to check you both in a couple of days."

We left the room and Zuko turned to me, "Sorryforblamingyoufortheattack." He mumbled fast.

"I'm sorry I didn't catch that." I teased.

"You heard me you stupid girl! If you are truly deaf then I suppose I could say it again. I'm sorry for blaming you." He said angrily.

"It's ok. If I was in your shoes I probably would have done the same thing or something similar or not." I said and giggled. He smiled very slightly but I was happy that I even got a smile out of him. I gleamed and we walked down the hall.

"Are you going to come out for dinner or would you like someone to bring it to you?" He asked when we reached my room. (A/N: they were in the infirmary all day and got food while they were there. I didn't make them anorexic. I just skipped stuff…)

"I 'spose I'll come out of my room." I said and smiled.

"I'll have someone escort you to dinner when it's ready." He said and opened my door for me. "See you later."

"See you." I said and he closed my door. I walked over to my bed and lay down. I just thought about things. Then I started thinking about when my parents died. 'No.' I thought. 'I'm not going to think about that. Not now.' I fell into a light sleep thinking about what will happen next.

"Naida! It's time for dinner!" Someone yelled while knocking on the steel door. I woke up quickly.

"Hold on a sec." I jumped up and brushed my hair fast. (with one hand) I walked over to the door and opened it.

"I've been knocking for 10 minutes. What were you doing?" he asked in a annoyed voice.

"It's nice to see you too. I'm fine thanks for asking. Oh, and you're ok to? So glad we can talk like civilized people." I said and walked out of the room. I looked back at a confused Zuko and laughed. 'He's cute when he's confused. Wait! Did I just think that?!' I thought and my eyes got wide. I stopped laughing and waited for Zuko.

"I was napping by the way. I'm sorry if I kept you waiting for a whole 10 minutes." I said and rolled my eyes. 'He can be such a poop sometimes.' I thought.

"You are forgiven but if it happens again then I won't even bother to wake you." He said and walked ahead of me. 'Poophead.' I thought and smiled. I can see teasing him will be quite fun!

**A/N: TADA!! I really hope you liked it! I tried not to use 'I' at the beginning of every sentence as much. I think I'm going to have a lot of fun with the next chapter (mwahaha!). There is no better way to spend your day than teasing Zuko in a fic!! I think Zuko still may be a little OOC but what are fics for? Thank you all for reading now…REVIEW!!!! (no flamers please but will except constructive criticism and fluffy nice things that make my day. .) **


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